Abdullah, Q., Alabady, S., Salleh, F., Khan, M. (2025). A Review of Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks: Types and Recent Developments. , 30(2), 1-15. doi: 10.33899/arej.2025.157162.1387
Qamar Burhan Abdullah; Salah Abdulghani Alabady; Fadzli M. Salleh; Mohammad S. Khan. "A Review of Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks: Types and Recent Developments". , 30, 2, 2025, 1-15. doi: 10.33899/arej.2025.157162.1387
Abdullah, Q., Alabady, S., Salleh, F., Khan, M. (2025). 'A Review of Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks: Types and Recent Developments', , 30(2), pp. 1-15. doi: 10.33899/arej.2025.157162.1387
Abdullah, Q., Alabady, S., Salleh, F., Khan, M. A Review of Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks: Types and Recent Developments. , 2025; 30(2): 1-15. doi: 10.33899/arej.2025.157162.1387

A Review of Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks: Types and Recent Developments

Al-Rafidain Engineering Journal (AREJ)
Volume 30, Issue 2, September 2025, Pages 1-15    PDF (762.91 K)
Document Type: Review Paper
DOI: 10.33899/arej.2025.157162.1387
Authors
Qamar Burhan Abdullah* 1; Salah Abdulghani Alabady1; Fadzli M. Salleh2; Mohammad S. Khan3
1Computer Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq
2School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
3Network Science and Analysis Lab (NSAL), Department of Computing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, USA
Abstract
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are crucial in applications such as environmental monitoring, healthcare, and smart cities. However, the constrained energy resource of sensor nodes and the application may face some critical issues when a large number of sensor nodes are deployed with efficient data transmission. Previously, wireless sensor networks relied on flat routing protocols and location-based protocols for data transmission. Still, the main problem with flat routing protocols is that they perform inefficiently on a large network size. The results from direct communications amongst all nodes result in high energy consumption and congestion. These problems led to the development of hierarchical routing protocols (HRPs) to address these issues by organizing nodes into clusters, thus reducing energy consumption and improving network scalability. This reduces the communication overhead and extends the network's lifetime. This review paper reviews the challenges that led to the development of HRPs and recent developments that have been made for HRPs, with a focus on Power-Efficient GAthering in Sensor Information Systems (PEGASIS). It estimates the solutions these protocols offer and examines the remaining challenges, such as dynamic cluster management and load balancing. As a result, PEGASIS greatly improves energy efficiency and scalability, but there are still gaps for potential optimizations. So research efforts will be required in these areas to maximize performance and applicability for hierarchical routing protocols in WSNs
Keywords
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs); Hierarchical Routing Protocols (HRPs); Energy Efficiency; LEACH; PEGASIS; Cluster-Based Routing
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